The present invention relates to check-out stations for supermarkets and the like.
Typical prior art check-out counters comprise a rectangular table having an optical scanner embedded therein for reading bar codes on grocery products, an inline conveyor belt for conveying groceries to the table, and an in-line end table for receiving the checked-out grocery products to be packed into plastic or paper bags. The designs of these prior art check-out counters are utilitarian, but they are not necessarily "ergonomic", from the perspective of either the cashier or the customer, for a number of reasons. In-line check out desks require the cashier to adopt an unnatural arm motion to lift and pass the grocery products over the scanner, which causes fatigue. The specifications of prior art counters such as the height thereof and position of keyboard tend to be fixed, whereas cashiers come in different sizes. These prior art designs require customers to direct their shopping carts down a long narrow "run-way" between adjacent check out counters. Some known designs provide insufficient space for shoppers to unload comfortably the contents of their shopping carts onto the conveyor belt. Also, prior art in-line designs are not well adapted for use with grocery box systems such as that disclosed in the subject applicants' co-pending U.S. application discussed herein below.